Prevention of asthma.

Infants born of allergic mothers but normal fathers, who had eczema and who were fed cows' milk, had a significantly greater incidence of asthma (P less than 0.001) than infants with a similar history but who were breast-fed. An analysis of all breast-fed infants in the study showed that they were less likely to develop asthma than those who were bottle-fed (P less than 0.06). There was a lower incidence of allergy in infants born of families with allergic mothers and normal fathers, than in families in which both parents were allergic (P less than 0.02). In skin tests of both breast or bottle-fed babies, the two most common allergens eliciting reactions were egg and cat dander.